Catharine Phillips Rembert (April 22, 1905 – October 26, 1990) was an artist, designer and art educator best known as an important teacher and mentor of
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and ...
, among others.
Early life and education
Catharine Phillips Rembert was born in Columbia, SC, the daughter of John Franklin and Myrtis Smart Phillips. She grew up in
Greenwood, South Carolina
Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Greenwood County, South Carolina. The population in the 2020 United States Census was 22,545 down from 23,222 at the 2010 census. The city is home to Lander University.
History
In 1823 John McG ...
, where she attended art classes at
Lander College, then a women’s school, while still in high school and briefly enrolled there before transferring to the
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...
, where she became the first graduate of the fledgling art department in 1927.
Career
Following her graduation, Catharine Phillips was hired as an instructor of design by the University Art Department, its third faculty member. In 1930, she married Allen Jones Rembert (1904–1951). Catharine Rembert remained on the Art Department faculty for the next 40 years, retiring in 1967 as assistant professor emeritus. During her years at the University, Rembert availed herself of opportunities to advance her study of art, including with
André Lhote
André Lhote (5 July 1885 – 24 January 1962) was a French Cubist painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes, and still life. He was also active and influential as a teacher and writer on art.
Early life and education
Lhote was bor ...
in Paris,
Amédée Ozenfant
Amédée Ozenfant (15 April 1886 – 4 May 1966) was a French cubist painter and writer. Together with Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (later known as Le Corbusier) he founded the Purist movement.
Education
Ozenfant was born into a bourgeois ...
in New York,
Hans Hoffman in Provincetown, and at
Parsons School of Design
The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...
and the
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a Private college, private art school, college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mis ...
. She incorporated modernist methods of teaching into her own. Among Rembert’s students were numerous who went on to significant careers in art and design, including
Sigmund Abeles, J. Bardin,
Blue Sky,
Aldwyth, and most notably, Jasper Johns, whom Rembert mentored for three semesters, from the time he started at the University in 1947, until he left for New York at her urging in 1948; the two remained close until Rembert’s death. After retirement, she continued teaching children’s classes at the Richland Art School and the
Columbia Museum of Art School, with both of which institutions she had longstanding affiliations.
Work
Catharine Rembert, although she considered herself more a designer than a painter, was an active member of and regularly exhibited paintings with the Columbia Artists’ Guild. She was a versatile designer of textiles for commercial firms, costumes and stage sets for theater and opera, graphic design, and large-scale decoration in conjunction with architect Phelps Bultman, as well as an occasional illustrator, including of the ''Swampy'' series of children’s books by Zan Heyward.
Selected exhibitions
*“Morse-Wittkowsky-Rembert,” Columbia Museum of Art, 1953
*“Catharine Rembert/Augusta Wittkowsky: Concentric Circles.” McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina, 1989
*“Abstract Art in South Carolina, 1949-2012.” South Carolina State Museum, 2012
Selected corporate and public commissions
*Mosaic Mural interior and exterior of the former SCE&G building, Columbia SC, Phelps Bultman, architect, ca. 1973
*Relief of copper tubing and wire, Columbia Metropolitan Airport, Phelps Bultman, architect
*Carved and glazed brick panels on J. Drake Edens Library, Columbia College, Phelps Bultman, architect
*Mural, Vorhees College, Denmark, SC
Awards and recognition
Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award for lifetime achievement in the arts, SC Arts Commission, 1989–90
Public collections
*Columbia Museum of Art
*McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rembert, Catharine Phillips
Artists from South Carolina
1905 births
1990 deaths
University of South Carolina alumni
Lander University alumni
People from Columbia, South Carolina
University of South Carolina faculty
People from Greenwood, South Carolina
20th-century American women artists
20th-century American people
American women academics